Chuck Sweeny: Businessman Bruce Rauner wants to run Illinois like a business

The 57-year-old businessman from Winnetka, one of four men seeking the Republican nomination for governor on March 18, is pushing term limits, education reform, a low, flat income tax, balanced budgets and "real" pension reform in which state employees, starting with legislators and judges, are gradually moved from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans for future time worked.

He says the politicians who run state government can't be trusted to change things because they created the fiscal mess and have been bought by special interests. Illinois is about $6 billion in debt.

In a meeting today with the Editorial Board, Rauner said he'll transform Illinois into a business-attractive state in eight years, then retire. Rauner also said he'd live in the governor's mansion in Springfield.

"I was born here, we raised six children here, I built businesses here, and we love it here. I don't want our children (and) our grandchildren to have to leave for a better life," Rauner said. But if the state doesn't start encouraging businesses to stay here and new ones to come here, Illinois "is goin' down the drain. We're the worst-run state in America," Rauner said bluntly.

Rauner said he can't be bought because he's "financially independent" and can fund his campaign. His GOP role models are Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan.

If he's elected, Rauner said, he'll bring "two dozen superstars" from the business world to Springfield and "put them in charge of the government, and we're going to run the government like a business. We're going to reduce the spending, shrink the departments, dramatically change the ... work rules, and really try to drive up productivity and transparency in state government."

Rauner said he's "studying" whether an airport is needed in Peotone. "I've asked for an analysis on that. I haven't gotten one," he said. Rauner thinks local communities should decide whether they want more gambling.

He also pledged to call in local political leaders to help streamline government at all levels. Illinois has more local governments - nearly 7,000 - than any other state.

Rauner criticizes "government union bosses" in his TV ads, but he said, "I'm not anti-union. I'm anti-conflict of interest between the voters and taxpayers and the government union bosses." Public employee unions stack the deck in their favor by contributing to and working for candidates who will do their bidding in office, he said.

Rauner is serious about his term-limits goal, saying that a national term limits group is helping him garner 300,000 signatures to put the "eight years is enough" measure on the ballot in November.

He also is "a believer in redistricting reform ... because the politicians are picking their voters." The model Rauner favors is already used in Iowa, where a computer uses census data to draw legislative districts.

Rauner wants to overhaul Illinois' tax structure. He wants to roll back the 67 percent income tax increase as scheduled in 2015, and he opposes any move to allow a graduated income tax.

"We have got to be pro-growth," he said. "Our overall spending has to come down. Our tax burden has to come down."

Rauner made no apologies for contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Mayor Richard M. Daley, and to Forrest Claypool in his race for Cook County Board president and Ed Rendell in his run for governor of Pennsylvania. All are Democrats.

"I'm a good, conservative Republican that wants to drive results ... I've given to Emanuel, Daley and Rendell because they were leaders on school reform. ... I've spent millions and lots of time in the last 25 years to improve Chicago education. I don't shrink from that."

Rauner wants to bring back technical education in a big way to connect teens to jobs that are going unfilled because people lack the skills to do them. He's for more charter schools, vouchers and merit pay for teachers.

Rauner called abortion a "tragedy," but he said the question of whether to have one "should be decided by the woman, her family, her physician and her minister, and not by government."